IPL 2024 Review: Flawless KKR dominated throughout tournament; SRH provided huge dose of entertainment

The IPL 2024 final turned out to be a one-sided affair as KKR dominated it and SRH were on the  backfoot throughout the game. What a tournament it was for KKR. If you break down their side,  it was almost as good as it could possibly be. Runs at the top of the order consistently with Sunil  

Narine and Phil Salt firing. One of the big differences this year has been the bowling form of  Andre Russell as I have mentioned throughout this season in my articles. He has constantly  picked up wickets. Russell had come into the tournament in good form. 

Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana were also very impressive with the ball. When you look at  KKR’s season, it seems they were almost flawless. They didn’t seem to be in great trouble at any  phase of the tournament. One can say that Rinku was not at his best, but the team was not  affected by it. This is a sign of good teams who can carry one or two players that are struggling  for form.  

Venkatesh Iyer got runs in the final. I have been a huge fan of the way he structures his innings,  being able to guide his team through difficult times. Gautam Gambhir has done a terrific job in  just his first season as a mentor of KKR. He deserves huge credit for taking KKR to the third  title. The mentality he brought with him was clearly visible in the performances.  

It is a shame that the final was so one-sided but credit to Sunrisers who played brilliant cricket  and fought well to get into the final. In the end, their strengths to get into the playoffs and the  final proved to be their weakness. 

Abhishek Sharma got a terrific delivery from Mitchell Starc and then Arora got rid of Travis  Head. The quick runs at the top were one of the biggest strengths. But it kind of dissipated in the  last phase of the tournament. It was always going to be a huge challenge for them to win games  suddenly without the top-order firing. The loss in final aside, I give huge credit to Pat Cummins  and Sunrisers for providing all the entertainment that they have. The IPL 2024 performances  provide them a good platform to build on for future tournaments.  

Cummins, Ruturaj: 2 captains who impressed me the most

I would also like to underline the two captains who impressed me the most. One of them is  Cummins. He had never captained in T20s before this season. But he did an outstanding job. Not  only because his side got into the final but also because of how he managed his team. SRH  played the game with a smile on their face. They played fearlessly and displayed an attacking  brand of cricket which was fun to watch. 

The other captain I want to pick out is Ruturaj Gaikwad who was leading Chennai Super Kings  for the first time. His team did not go through the playoffs and that must have disappointed him a  lot, but I think he can be very proud of his own performance.

When you take up the captaincy for the first time and you are a top-order batter, it is not easy to  play both roles to perfection. But Ruturaj managed it well. The pressure of leading such a  successful franchise can affect your own skill. Ruturaj can be proud of his batting performances  this season. He played some match-winning knocks on the way. 

From the tournament’s perspective, he must be disappointed but when you look at his batting in  isolation, he should be very pleased.  

Talking about some solid individual performances, Riyan Parag of RR was outstanding as well.  He has not had an easy time in the previous seasons. Other young players I have been very  impressed with are Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Will  Jacks. They caught the attention with some very good, match-winning performances. Credit to  them for stepping up for their teams and using opportunities well. 

RCB’s resurgence a striking moment in IPL 2024

The resurgence of RCB was also one of the striking things from this IPL. To win one out of eight  and then to get to the playoffs is an astonishing achievement. Credit must be given to the  coaching staff led by Andy Flower and the captain Faf du Plessis as well as senior players like  Virat Kohli for this stunning comeback. To make a turnaround from what looked like a hopeless  situation requires a great deal of self-belief. 

RCB are such an iconic franchise that it is not easy to deal with the pressure that comes from the  fans. To completely switch gears midway through the tournament and play with such flair is  worthy of a huge compliment. 

In the end, they did not get through to the final, but they should be very proud of making it to the  playoffs from such a position. They have got a very big platform now which they can build on  for next year.  

Let me say it again: Time to help bowlers in T20s

Finally, to conclude this article, I want to reiterate what I have been saying for a long time that  the T20s needs a different ball. I get worried when I see bowlers become bowling machines in  matches. We might end up losing a generation of good bowlers if nothing is done to bring the  balance between bat and ball. There might not be any excitement in the future to become a  bowler. The youngsters might want to give up bowling and want to pick up bats after seeing how  the bowlers are treated.  

That is why it is worth looking at a different T20 ball which is not just another white ball from a  different brand. But a ball with a different seam, weight or balance may give the bowlers some  chance against the heavy bats and muscle power of the batters. 

On impact players and reviews for wides

Also, there has been a lot of debate on impact players. I quite like the idea of it. I think it adds an  element of fun and entertainment to the IPL. I am not a huge fan of it being implemented around 

the world in T20s as I don’t think it will work so well everywhere. The downside of the impact  player is India finding it hard to produce a genuine all-rounder. India still needs to find the next  Hardik Pandya, who adds balance to the eleven across the formats. The decision makers will  bear that in mind. Yes, the impact player makes IPL more entertaining and fun, but you also need  to be careful about the development of the young players.  

I am not a big fan of the reviews for Wides. I think it slows the game down unnecessarily. The  other thing is that it makes the umpires look bad. The umpires are on the ground to make  decisions. They will get some right and some wrong. Till the time you have human element  involved, there will be some mistakes. Think we need to accept them and move on. Wides are  marginal calls. One may not go your way, the other might go your way. Stopping the game for  such reviews slows the game down. 

IPL 2024 was another hugely successful season. Some teams showed sheer dominance. Some  made brilliant comebacks. New heroes were born, and entertainment was served in huge amount.  What more can we expect from IPL.